Pastors Challenge Church-State Separation Law
IRS to Investigate Religious Leaders for Endorsing McCain
Church-State separation has been a field of contention between secular and religious groups since it was first legislated in the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, and it is a field full of mines, one of which recently exploded in the faces of six American pastors.
Politicizing the Pulpit
IRS tax law prohibits nonprofit groups such as schools and churches from endorsing or attacking political candidates. If found in defiance of such laws, the offending organization risks losing its non-profit tax status--a penalty which could effectively crumble a church found in violation.
This legal reality is currently being faced by at least five pastors recently caught using their status as community leaders to actively endorse presidential candidate Sen. John McCain. A sixth pastor, also involved in the investigation, stood shy of actually endorsing McCain, opting instead to vehemently criticize Sen. Barack Obama, an act every bit as illegal as endorsement of the competing candidate, according to tax law.
Church Pastors Unite Against Fusing Politics with Religion
Complaints against the six pastors were filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a non-profit organization based out of Washington, D.C. The group is comprised both of members who express religious faith and of those merely focused on enforcing a societal line of demarcation between government and religion.
Although the IRS law in question has been on the books for more than fifty years, only one church has lost its tax status for violation of it. This fact leads to questions about whether or not the AUSCS complaints will result in actual penalty.
Fighting Both For, and Against, the First Amendment
In a move which amounts to a direct challenge of the First Amendment, the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group based out of Scottsdale, Arizona, supports the pastors' rights to voice their opinions in church, citing, interestingly, First Amendment rights to free speech. The ADF has indicated that it will challenge, to the level of the Supreme Court if necessary, laws that bar religious leaders from giving political endorsements in places of worship.
Supporters of Church-State separation law have criticized the IRS in recent years for not acting with definitive action to enforce tax laws in this socially-sensitive area. So far, the IRS has declined to comment on the case of the partisan pastors, referring to a federal law which prohibits the agency from divulging information not already made public.
Due to AUSCS action, pastors and churches under potential IRS investigation for violation of tax law include:
- Jody Hice of Bethlehem First Baptist Church in Bethlehem, Ga.
- Paul Blair of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, Okla.
- Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church in Warroad, Minn.
- Francis Pultro of Calvary Chapel Kings Highway in Philadelphia
- Luke Emrich of New Life Church in West Bend, Wis.
Political Pulpit
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